The Influence of COVID-19 on New Lung Cancer Diagnoses, by Stage and Treatment, in Northern Italy.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on new cancer diagnoses. This study aims to evaluate the implications of the lockdown period on new lung cancer diagnoses in northern Italy. We compared 2020 with 2019 cancer registry data, reporting the variations by age, stage, and treatments. In 2020, 303 lung cancer cases were registered, 21 fewer than in 2019. Cases fell in men (-31 patients, 9.6%) but not in women (+10 patients, +3.1%). A significant drop in stage I from 19.8% to 12.9% (p < 0.05) and an increase in stage III (12.7% vs. 19.1%; p < 0.05) was observed. Histological confirmation dropped (70.1% vs. 60.1%; p < 0.05) while cytology increased (12% vs. 20.8%; p < 0.01). Surgery declined (28.7% vs. 21.5%; p < 0.05) but increased in stage III (19.5% vs. 25.9%; p = 0.46), while chemotherapy increased (17.6% vs. 34.3%; p < 0.01) for all stages. During the pandemic, new lung cancer diagnoses dropped only in men. The reorganization of health services has ensured a decrease in surgical interventions (due to the unavailability of operating rooms) counterbalanced by an increase in chemotherapy.

Robotic surgery vs. open surgery for thymectomy, a retrospective case-match study.

The robotic approach in the treatment of thymus diseases has been described in many papers, but few studies have compared the early outcome of patients after robotic and open transsternal procedure. Our study aims to confirm the non-inferiority of the robotic technique in terms of feasibility, safety and postoperative patient recovery compared to the open standard. This is a retrospective cohort study in which we compare 114 patients who underwent thymectomy for a thymus disease at our thoracic surgery unit. Our robotic surgery programme started in February 2012 with the treatment of mediastinal diseases. Since then, we have performed 57 robotic thymectomies (Group A). This series was compared with 57 patients who underwent open thymectomies (Group B) performed before 2012, and all were properly matched through a propensity score. Hospital and ICU stay, postoperative pain, use of painkillers, operative time and complications rate were analysed. Postoperative pain, evaluated through the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), was significantly lower in the robotic surgery group (p < 0.001), which was associated with a trend to lower use of painkillers in Group A, although it was not significant (p = 0.06). No statistical differences were observed between the two groups in terms of ICU stay (p = 0.080), although the total hospital stay was significantly longer in Group B (p = 0.003). No statistical differences were observed in operative time (p = 0.492) and complications rate (p = 0.950). The robotic-assisted technique showed the same operative time and complications rate compared with open surgery, thereby confirming its safety and feasibility in myasthenic patients as well as in Masaoka I-II thymomas. The lower postoperative pain and the shorter hospital stay associated with prompt mobilisation and faster chest drainage removal showed the great advantage of the minimally invasive robotic approach in these patients.

Accidental neck and chest penetration by a metal sliver derived from an axe for wood chopping: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Penetrating neck and chest trauma is a very common entity in emergency medicine that usually requires surgical treatment. Our case report illustrates the case of a 27-year-old Arabian man with hemopneumothorax associated with pneumomediastinum due to an unusual occupational injury. CASE PRESENTATION: A metal sliver, coming from an axe using for wood chopping, penetrated the neck of a 27-year-old Arabian man in the left supraclavicular region mimicking a gun bullet; the entrance hole was at the left pleural dome where the sliver had just penetrated the apex of the lung passing through the upper lobe of his left lung creating an exit wound in the dorsal segment of the same lobe arriving in the posterior thoracic wall. Biportal video-assisted thoracic surgery was performed to remove blood clots and the unusual foreign body.  CONCLUSION: In the literature, there are several case series about this topic, with some of them reporting unusual foreign bodies that lead to penetrating trauma. However, to the best of our knowledge, no cases like the one we have reported are described in the current literature.